UNB, Dhaka :The United States Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon has underscored the necessity of strengthening the bilateral relations to a new height with Bangladesh, saying his government considers Bangladesh as an important partner. He made the remark when State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam met with him, according to a message received here from Washington on Saturday.Shahriar congratulated Ambassador Shannon on officially assuming the charge of the office of the Under-Secretary of State.The State Minister was the first visitor to meet Shannon in his new capacity.Shannon thanked the State Minister and said his maiden visit to Bangladesh in December, 2015 was very important and fruitful.He termed it a great way to start his visit to South Asia.During the discussion that lasted for about 45 minutes, Ambassador Shannon said Bangladesh maintained its broad commitment to democracy, which is one of the core values of the US government.The State Minister thanked him for choosing Bangladesh as his first destination in South Asia.He said, Bangladesh and America enjoyed excellent bilateral relations and it was high time to take it to a higher level. He mentioned about the existing bilateral cooperation in security, trade, counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing.Both of them also discussed other issues of common concerns including the global threat of the Islamic State, climate change, recent attacks on foreigners and bloggers in Bangladesh.The State Minister briefed the Under-Secretary about various initiatives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to counter these radical forces. He reassured him of Hasina’s ‘zero tolerance’ stance against all sorts of terrorism and violent extremism.Both State Minister and Ambassador Shannon underscored the necessity of a close cooperation in different sectors to generate positive perception among the peoples of the two countries and to further cementing the existing friendly relations. Earlier, the State Minister held a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal and discussed various issues of common concerns.
